Monthly Archives: September 2015

Sep 30 2015
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yael-stone-feature-image

Aussie actors in Hollywood

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You might have seen these talented actors in your favourite US TV shows without realising that they are in fact, home-grown. We’re taking a look at some of the Aussies popping up in US drama all over the place.

Yael Stone

Sydney-born Yael graduated from NIDA and starred in a number of Australian TV shows like All Saints and Spirited, before taking on the role of perennially red-lipped, hopeless romantic Lorna Morello in the cult Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Much like Margot Robbie did in The Wolf of Wall Street, Yael nailed the Brooklyn/Boston hybrid accent so convincingly, many are surprised to find out that she is in fact Australian. Stone has been a series regular on the first three seasons, with the fourth set for release in 2016.

Watch Orange is the New Black on Netflix, Quickflix or iTunes. Watch Spirited on iTunes or Google Play.

Bojana Novakovic

Serbia-born Bojana moved to Australia as a child and also graduated from NIDA. You might have seen her in local films Burning Man, Not Suitable For Children, Charlie’s Country and The Little Death, or ABC series Rake. Novakovic has also been working the US and recently starred on the hit Showtime drama Shameless, a remake of the original UK show, where she played the main character Will Gallagher’s love interest, Bianca in season 5.

Watch Not Suitable for Children on Quickflix or iTunes. Watch Charlie’s Country on Quickflix or Google Play. See The Little Death on Quickflix or Google Play.

Josh Lawson

Speaking of The Little Death, its writer and director, Queensland-born Josh Lawson is himself a well-known actor who has starred in all four seasons of the Showtime drama House of Lies as Doug Guggenheim. You would already know Lawson from his prolific acting career in Aussie TV shows like Home and Away, Blue Heelers, Sea Patrol and The Librarians, as well as films Any Questions for Ben?, The Campaign and Anchorman 2: the Legend Continues.

The Little Death is on Quickflix and Google Play. Catch Sea Patrol on iTunes. Watch Any Questions for Ben? on iTunes. The Campaign is on Stan, iTunes ad Google Play. Anchorman 2 is on iTunes and Google Play.

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Clare Bowen

Clare Bowen grew up in and around the Sydney and Wollongong region, making a foray into the acting world with small roles in local productions like Home and Away, All Saints and Not Suitable For Children before scoring one of the lead roles in ABC country drama Nashville as the talented but shy singer/songwriter Scarlett O’Connor.

Catch Nashville on iTunes. Not Suitable for Children is on Quickflix and iTunes.

Aisha Dee

Aisha Dee’s breakout role on The Saddle Club paved the way for the young Gold Coast-born actress to secure roles in the US sitcom I Hate My Teenage Daughter as MacKenzie, and in the ABC drama Chasing Life as Beth Kingston, the Australian-born best friend of cancer-stricken April Carve

Matt Passmore

Queensland-born Matthew Passmore started out in Aussie TV shows like Blue Heelers, McLeod’s Daughters and Underbelly before finding success in the US TV industry.  He played the lead role of Jim Longworth in all four season of crime drama The Glades and is currently gracing US TV screens in the title role of Neil Truman in Satisfaction.

McLeod’s Daughters is on Stan and iTunes. Underbelly is available at Stan and iTunes. The Glades is on Google Play.

Maia Mitchell

Talented singer and actress Maia Mitchell was born in Lismore, NSW and made her TV debut in Australian TV series Mortified where she played lead Brittany Flune and even won an AFI award for Best Children’s TV Series. She followed this up with roles in local teen series Trapped and Castaway and Disney comedy Jessie, before taking on the role of Callie Jacob in ABC family drama The Fosters.

Mortified can be found on Netflix.

Sep 29 2015
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Ready For This feature image

We’re so ready: Australia’s first Indigenous teen drama

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Ready For This is Australia’s first Indigenous teen drama and it’s a collaboration between two of our top production houses: Werner Film Productions, known for teen and kids drama like the hugely successful Dance Academy, and Blackfella Films, behind some of the best adult drama in recent years, such as Redfern Now.

We chat to Ready For This producer, Joanna Werner about the show, ahead of its release on Monday 5 October on ABC3.

Screen Australia: How did the collaboration between Werner Film Productions and Blackfella Films come about?

Joanna Werner: Darren [Dale from Blackfella Films] and I met at the Adelaide Film Festival and over drinks, became good friends. We talked for a while about wanting to do something together. And we really wanted to join together our two areas of expertise to create something unique.

SA: What would you describe as the main benefit of collaborating?

JW: I’d worked a lot in teen and kid’s drama, and that was an area that Blackfella Films was really interested in moving into. And in [Werner Film Productions’] Dance Academy, we touched on some stories with Indigenous content, and I really wanted to pursue a series that focused on coming-of-age from an Indigenous teen perspective. So it really made sense to join together.

SA: The show is about five talented teens that all come to live together in Sydney. How did you come up with that?

JW: There are hostels around Australia where Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal teenagers stay when they have to move away from home to pursue particular passions, particular schooling, whether it’s athletics, music or AFL, and so [our idea] came from the reality of that. We thought it was a really aspirational story to follow: teenagers chasing their dreams.

SA: What do you hope people will like the most about the show?

JW: We want this show to be universally appealing. We want every teenager to be able to watch it and to be able to identify with the characters, and identify with the things that our characters are going through. But we also want to give an opportunity for Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal teenagers to see characters who specifically reflect them on screen. I think that’s really important.

SA: What’s your favourite part of the show?

JW: I love the interpersonal relationships between the characters. It’s fantastic that they’re following their passions, but the characters that we’ve developed have such heart, and the way that they come to form their own little community is really great. There are really heart-warming and challenging stories, and we hope the audience will come to love these characters.

SA: What have you enjoyed most about making this show?

JW: I loved the collaboration. It was really fantastic to co-produce with Miranda Dear, who has so much experience – and having come off the incredibly successful and fabulous Redfern Now series – to be able to work together and share the load, for me, that was fantastic.

But also I’m just so excited with the casting of the show. We cast some actors who have had quite a bit of experience, like Maddy Madden and Aaron McGrath who play Zoe and Levi; Christian Byers who plays Reece and Leoni Whyman who plays Lily have both had quite a bit of experience but this is their first time as leads; and we’ve also cast some brand new actors who have never acted on television before in Liam Talty and Majeda Beatty, so to be able to give them their first opportunity – and we know that they’re going to go on to long careers – is fantastic. And it’s fantastic for the pool of talent in Australia.

Ready For This starts Monday 5 October on ABC3 at 6.20pm.

Sep 29 2015
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Lorne feature image

ON LOCATION with short film, Lorne

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Go behind the scenes on upcoming Aussie short film Lorne, starring Guy Pearce, about a man in oppressive isolation, who’s confronted by a stranger. Directed by Jesse Leaman, produced by Luke Saliba and written by Taylor Adams, Lorne was shot in Anakie, a town in Victoria with a population of around 600 people. Find out more about Lorne here.

Sep 23 2015
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Exchange-Student-Zero-feature

World get ready: Exchange Student Zero

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Aussie animation studio Bogan Entertainment Solutions were onto a winner in 2012 when they created and produced telemovie Exchange Student Zero. From this weekend, Exchange Student Zero is back as a 13-part animated series for global kids TV channel, Cartoon Network. Exchange Student Zero is a unique combination of two traditional animation styles: anime and western cartoons. Emma Carroll has more.

The story goes like this: Max and John, two school friends, inadvertently bring a character from a card game that they’re obsessed with to life – Hiro. Hiro is mistaken for an exchange student in the local community. But he’s anime through and through and has powers, which is a source of much confusion for everyone. Max and John try to keep Hiro’s real identity a secret, while they figure out how to return him to his original world.

Exchange Student Zero creator Bruce Kane says he got the idea for the show while playing YuGioh, a card game, with his son. “My son was about four, he couldn’t read, and he was trying to work out what the [YuGioh] characters were and he was making up stories [about them]. Trying to play the game with him, I thought ‘well, it’s interesting how he perceives those characters,’” Bruce says. “One thing lead to another and I started to imagine if those characters existed in a real world. A real, animated world.”

Bruce’s favourite episode has a six-legged wolf warrior, who’s a general of an army, and finds himself in a suburban house where has to pass himself off as a dog and behave like a dog. “Which he finds extremely degrading,” Bruce adds.

Bruce says Cartoon Network was looking for shows that would work internationally, and that for Bogan, mixing anime and western-style animation in one show, would achieve that. Bruce says creating a show with two distinct styles was both challenging and fun. “The line weight and the approach to design is quite different [in anime]. And to make [the characters] move like anime characters as well – it’s different timing,” Bruce says.

“We ended up combining elements of anime and manga, the Japanese comic book [style] where you’ll see symbols appear next to characters heads denoting emotion, and including those elements that you don’t normally see in Western animation was a lot of fun,” Bruce says.

The creative team used anime consultants initially to help get their heads around it. And the Cartoon Network connection gave the team access to a lot of fantastic international talent too. One example Bruce gives is Exchange Student Zero voice director, Charlie Adler, who voices Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel in the US.

“It’s all been designed and written in Australia and we’ve worked with some really great, key international [talent], which has been fantastic: To have folk that haven’t necessarily worked much in the Australian animation industry come on board and really like, and want, to be involved,” Bruce says. “That cross pollination has been really fantastic.”

The show’s stellar creative line up doesn’t stop there. Mutato Muzika (DEVO co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh’s music production company) did the scoring throughout and created the theme tune. Australian comedians wrote episodes – along with Bruce and series writers Scott Edgar, Shane Krause, Shayne Armstrong and David Witt – and star, including Rove McManus who voices Max and Hiro.

Exchange Student Zero starts on Cartoon Network on Saturday 26 September.

Sep 16 2015
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Mambo 560

GRAPHIC SCENES: Mambo Australiano!

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Some ideas are so obvious that everyone jumps on board at hello. That was the case with Mambo: Art Irritates Life, an irreverent playful high octane documentary about one of Australia’s most successful brands – an unlikely, subversive collision of music, art and zeitgeist that took on the world. Never more so than during the Sydney Olympics’ opening ceremony when Mambo delivered its own idiosyncratic pageant of Australian identity complete with fibro houses, lawnmowers, beer monsters, and fire breathing chickens! It was a defining moment for the nation and the label.

Caroline Baum talks to the team behind Mambo: Art Irritates Life.

Currently in the early stages of production, the one hour doco is a collaboration between Bombora Film and Music Company director Paul Clarke (responsible for the recent Blood and Thunder story of the Albert music label) and Scott Nowell and Scott Dettrick from The Monkeys, an award-winning Sydney advertising agency.

Dettrick, formerly a Mambo art director, is the documentary’s production designer, creating individual Mambo-themed visual installations for each of the film’s interviewees. Nowell, who has written and directed short films, took his enthusiasm for Clarke’s music docos to the next level and is now his co-writer and producer. Crucially, Mental As Anything musician and artist Reg Mombassa, who started designing T-shirts for the company in 1986 and became its most high profile creative force, is involved musically and editorially. Clarke describes him as “Mambo’s Barry Humphries or Hieronymus Bosch.”

As its cheekily provocative name suggests, the project matches Mambo’s own tone and style. But it also reflects the genuinely subversive nature of the brand’s imagery. In their own words, they’re ‘the bastard children of surf culture’.

The doco outline describes Mambo as ‘an anarcho syndicalist collective of stirrers and modern mystics which went from a garage in East Sydney to becoming a much loved institution of ratbaggery. It became a $100M international clothing business presenting a manifesto of concepts and cartoons  attacking hypocrisy, politicians and organised religion and promoting Australian eccentricity to the world…’

“You can imagine how thrilled I was when the proposal came across my desk,” says ABC Executive Producer Jo Chichester. “It’s a meaty, no-brainer David and Goliath story of Australians punching above their weight, drawing on fashion , visual arts and music and also plays with form.”

Rather than telling the story of Mambo in a traditional linear fashion, Clarke has adopted a less conventional, more ambitious multi point of view narrative structure, in the style of Japanese classic Rashomon. “That will help express divergent opinions of what was going on” he says. “All the key players see it slightly differently.”

Writer/ actor Adam Zwar will narrate, with a sound track of new wave and pub rock sounds from bands like The Sunnyboys, Lubricated Goat and Radio Birdman.

Mambo: Art Irritates Life will screen on ABC TV and iView next year as part of a new series of documentaries under the Artsville banner, which began on ABC TV on September 10th, 2015.

Chichester says: “The series features blue chip docos and screen in a 9.30pm slot in a one hour format, which gives shows greater visibility and impact than the 10 pm half hour could. This film is perfect for reaching a broad audience that might not define itself as typically arts viewers.”

Fortunately, (Reg) Mombassa has kept an archive of the original artworks of iconic images such as the Australian Jesus and the Beer Tree from the label’s early days. So have enthusiasts and collectors, including T shirt curator – surely a first in documentary credits – Eddie Zammit, co-curator of Thirty Years of Shelf Indulgence Mambo exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2014.

“I think Jack Nicholson was spotted in a pair of Mambo shorts,” says Mombassa, adding “I made a suit once for Johnny Rotten.”

He still sounds a little nonplussed by the moment that is the film’s climax: the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony featuring the bizarre creatures conceived by Mombassa.

“I was sceptical when Dare Jennings (the label’s founder) approached me to do the athlete’s uniforms and the show because I thought it was too straight and mainstream. In a sense it did backfire because it meant that after that, we stopped being cool with young boys: they saw too many of their fat uncles wearing our shirts at barbecues,” he laughs.

But the label was a laboratory for a generation of graphic talent since the days when Mombassa and fellow artist Paul Worstead and Richard Allen first dreamed up iconic farting dogs as their antidote to the Ken Done/ Paul Hogan version of Australia.

“To me Mambo is quintessential Sydney,” says Clarke. “It’s the city of Martin Sharpe and Arthur Stace – a very graphic place.”

Another of its most appealing aspects for Clarke is its relevance: “It’s about a time when brands were not as visible as they are today. Certainly, very few Australian brands registered globally with the same cultish impact. What makes this one unique is that it started as an art movement that the public took on and wore proudly, as it became more political and championed issues. You could say Mambo was the rebel yell of individualism!”

Sep 15 2015
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blinky bill feature

15 of our furriest film and TV friends

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With the release of Blinky Bill: The Movie and Oddball fast approaching, we’re celebrating four-legged, winged and finned legends.

1

Blinky Bill in Blinky Bill: The Movie

This cheeky koala has been capturing hearts and minds since 1933. And this year, Blinky’s back! Blinky Bill: The Movie is in Australian cinemas from 17 September.

2

Oddball in Oddball

Based on the true story of a sheepdog in Warrnambool, Victoria trained to protect penguins from foxes, Oddball is in Australian cinemas from 17 September.

3

Maya in Maya the Bee Movie

Maya is a little bee with a big personality. But in a hive where fitting in is the most important thing, being different isn’t easy. Watch it on Google Play.

4

Mumble and Erik in Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two

In the land of the Emperor penguins where each needs a heartsong to attract a soul mate, a penguin is born who cannot sing. Watch Happy Feet on Stan or Netflix. You can see Happy Feet Two on Stan and Netflix too.

5

Red Dog in Red Dog

Based on the true story of a nomadic red kelpie that won the hearts of hundreds of Western Australians, you can watch Red Dog on Stan, iTunes or Google Play.

6

Soren the barn owl in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

Soren, a young barn owl, is kidnapped by owls at St. Aggie’s, where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. Soren and his new friends escape to the island of Ga’Hoole. See it on Stan, Netflix and Google Play.

7

Hildegarde the duck in Hildegarde, A Duck Down Under

When their beloved duck Hildegarde is abducted by smugglers, it’s up to Christopher, Isabel and Jeremy to save the day. Catch it on DVD.

8

PC in Paws

A computer-literate dog called PC flees into the arms of a lonely 13-year-old boy, Zac, after witnessing his master’s murder. Watch it on Google Play.

9

Flipper in Flipper and Flipper: The New Adventures

Marine researchers Keith Ricks and Pam Blondell continue their work with dolphins. Get Flipper on DVD.

10

Napoleon in Napoleon

A puppy with a loving family dreams of being a wild dog. During a birthday party, a balloon-lined basket accidentally carries him away.

11

Babe in Babe

A pig learns how to herd sheep and becomes the national sheep dog champion. See it on Google Play.

12

Phar Lap in Phar Lap

Based on the true story of champion racehorse, Phar Lap. Get the movie on DVD.

13

The kangaroo in Dot and the Kangaroo

Dot becomes lost in the bush and befriends a big kangaroo who helps her find her way home. Find it on DVD.

14

Mr Percival in Storm Boy

Based on the book by Colin Thiele, a boy is forced to choose between two beloved companions. Watch it on DVD.

15

Skippy in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

The adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo. See it on DVD.

Sep 09 2015
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Kill Me Three Times. Photograph by David Dare Parker.

Crime caper with a game changing campaign: Kill Me Three Times

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Kill Me Three Times is an Aussie crime caper that harks back to Ozploitation and heralds a new age for film marketing at the same time. Emma Carroll reports.

A dark comedy about a hitman’s botched job, Kill Me Three Times is out today – but the cast have been leaving threatening voice messages and sending weird texts for a while now, as part of the film’s marketing campaign.

The dark comedy crime caper follows a hitman in a remote beach-side town who’s trying to finish a job that’s becoming increasingly complicated. It’s a far cry from director Kriv Stenders last film, the massively successful Red Dog. This is in part what drew Kriv to the project.

“I’d been developing a few projects … and this was something that was left of centre,” Kriv says. The other major drawcard was the script, written by James McFarland: “It really leapt off the page. In a really exciting way. I also just found it very funny. Very perversely and darkly funny,” he adds.

Kriv says Kill Me Three Times tips its hat to that great era of Australian filmmaking: Ozploitation. “I’ve always loved the thriller genre, and I was attracted to the idea of using that with dark comedy,” Kriv says. “I was very inspired by … the Ozploitation era,” he continues. “We [Australians] made some very interesting genre films during that period. And genre films with international stars that played with genre in a uniquely Australian way,” Kriv says. “This was a chance to pay homage to that era.”

And indeed it is – up to and including the international star, with Simon Pegg playing hitman Charlie Wolfe. Kriv says he knew from the get-go that he wanted to cast a comic actor in the lead role. “Rather than casting a generic ‘bad guy’ as the hitman, I’ve always felt that comics make great villains and that it would be a great idea to cast a comic actor in the role,” Kriv says. The producers agreed and Simon Pegg was cast. Simon’s joined by a stellar Aussie line-up, with Teresa Palmer, Sullivan Stapleton, Luke Hemsworth and Bryan Brown also starring.

Kriv describes the film as “one and a half hours of pure, unadulterated entertainment”. But the fun doesn’t have to end there: Kill Me Three Times also has an innovative transmedia marketing campaign, which sees users – who sign up at the website – ‘stalked’ by Charlie Wolfe for three days. Kill Me Three Times associate producer Daniel Findlay, who took the lead on the campaign, says it’s a must for movie fans. “I’d recommend signing up,” Daniel says. “You’ve never experienced anything quite like it.”

The campaign was launched in time for the film’s US release and boasts about 6,000 users to date. “People aren’t exactly sure what they’re in for before they sign up, which I think is part of the appeal,” Daniel says. “I think people are interested in interacting with characters from a movie,” he adds.

The premise is this: You witness Charlie and Sam commit murder and you film it. So Charlie and Sam come looking for you.

Once you’re signed up, characters from the film send you texts, leave messages on your phone, and send you videos and links. And there’s a Facebook element as well.

“Each character has a different motive for reaching out,” Daniel says, “and the experience plays out over several days.”

You can sign up for the transmedia experience now – and you can watch Kill Me Three Times from 9 September on Digital, DVD & Blu-ray.

Sep 09 2015
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Peter Allen featured

An inspiring life: Writer Justin Monjo on Peter Allen

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Justin Monjo has written for Rush, Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, and more. Now he’s turned his hand to Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door. Imogen Corlette chats to Justin about capturing the iconic Australian’s story.

Imogen Corlette: Justin, you’ve worked on a number of films and TV shows that have become iconic in Australia. What was it about Peter Allen that drew you in?

Justin Mojo: I researched Peter Allen and I discovered what a wonderful, dramatic and emotional story we had to tell. A story about self-discovery. And when Peter discovered who he was, and came to have faith in who he was, he was able to write some really beautiful music. Songs that have lasted and lasted. That he happened to be Australian was secondary to me in a way – though Peter LOVED Australia and his humor and drive was quintessentially Australian.

IC:  Peter Allen’s story moves from small town Australia to tinsel town – how inspiring do you think his story is, and what do you think Australians will take from this?

JM: I think his story is profoundly inspiring. Believe in who you are – no matter what people say. Believing and trusting in who you are is the first step towards self-expression. Maybe the most important step.

IC: How did you decide on the story format, given Allen is no longer alive – did you base it around a particular person who knew him, or did you work around archival material and allow the story to emerge from this?

JM: We just tried to find a way to tell the story that was interesting and not by the numbers. We were inspired by things ranging from Fellini’s 8 ½ to the play version of Cloudstreet. Almost all our research was from archival material – though we did get to interview some of Peter’s childhood friends.

IC: Did you participate in the music planning side of the story? How did that shape the crafting of the script?

JM: Yes, I was a part of choosing every song that was considered at first and used in the filming. As the scripts advanced, of course, the Musical Supervisor and the Director added many more ideas – bits that inspired them. Music was Peter’s life. Peter found the inspiration for his best songs in his real life, so music is vital to every step of his story.

IC: How do you think your experience as an actor informs your writing – do you think it brings something extra to the script?

JM: I’d like to think I have an ‘ear’ for dialogue because I worked as an actor for so long. And since my experience as a film/TV actor was exclusively as ‘supporting cast’, I always try to make those roles interesting. At the same time I try not to burden them with too much really tricky stuff because I know first hand how hard it is to come on set for just a day or two and produce big things. It can make or break a film and it is very hard to do.

IC: What do you think Australians look for in stories today – do you think they are particularly interested in ‘home grown’ stories and how important do you think this is?

JM: I think people just want great stories. The world of TV/film is so international now. On any night you can watch a show from the US, then one from Denmark, then a movie from Mexico. ‘Home grown’ only works if it’s good – you can’t rely on people watching stuff just because it’s Australian. It must be good first, then Australian.

IC: What is the one big thing you hope viewers will take away from the Peter Allen story?

JM: I hope they love it as much as the actors, director, crew, producers and writers do. It is funny and moving. I think the actors and crew and the director have done such a good job.

Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door airs in two parts on Channel 7. Part one will air at 8.40pm on Sunday 13 September. Part two airs 8.30pm on Sunday 20 September

Sep 02 2015
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directors-chair-featured

Aussie invasion: Australian TV directors working around the world

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You’re used to hearing about Australian actors scoring leads around the globe – hey, even Michael Douglas knows it – but did you know our TV directors are nailing it overseas too?

We take a look at a few of the talented Australian TV directors working on some of the most high-profile shows of recent years, including Broadchurch, Doctor Who, Humans, Grey’s Anatomy and Suits.

Jessica Hobbs

Jessica Hobbs cut her teeth on Heartbreak High in the late 90s, before going on to work on iconic Aussie TV shows like McLeod’s Daughters, Love My Way, All Saints, The Slap and Rake. This year she made the jump to one of the U.K.’s hottest properties of the past few years: ITV’s Broadchurch, filming two episodes in the second season.

Daniel Nettheim

Daniel Nettheim, best known for directing 2011’s The Hunter with Willem Dafoe, is also a prolific TV director, having racked up credits for The Secret Life of Us, All Saints, Rush and Dance Academy. More recently Daniel’s been busy on the UK/US sci-fi show Humans and the new season of the BBC’s Doctor Who. He’s currently back in Australia filming Jack Irish with Essential Media for the ABC.

Jonathan Teplitzky

You may remember Jonathan Teplitzky’s work directing the Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth WWI drama, The Railway Man last summer, but he’s also very active in TV world. Jonathan directed two episodes of Australian show Rake last year, before going to the UK to direct episodes of ITV’s Broadchurch and Channel 4 miniseries Indian Summers, about the decline of the British Empire and the birth of modern India.

Cherie Nowlan

Cherie Nowlan is one of the busiest women in TV, racking up credits both here and in the US. Cherie made a name for herself in Australia on shows like Dance Academy, Packed to the Rafters and Crownies, before going Stateside. In the US, she’s directed shows like Gossip Girl, 90210, Grey’s Anatomy, Suits, The Mysteries of Laura, The Messengers and Satisfaction.

Kate Woods

You’ll know Kate Woods from her first feature: the Australian classic and AFI award-winning, Looking for Alibrandi. But you might not know that since then, Kate’s been prolific in the States. She’s worked on shows like Nashville, NCIS: LA, Revenge, Suits, Bones, Castle, Law and Order SVU, Private Practice and Rizzoli & Isles. Kate does occasionally work back home – this year she directed a webisode of Mychonny Moves In with John Luc, and she’s got an adaptation of On the Jelicoe Road in development, which sees her reunited with Alibrandi author Melina Marchetta.

Mat King

Mat King directed Underbelly here in 2011, before going on to direct an episode of Doctor Who for the BBC in 2013 and Law & Order: UK for ITV. Back home, he’s currently shooting season 4 of Nine’s House Husbands with Playmaker and upcoming SyFy series Hunter with Matchbox Pictures.

Sep 01 2015
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resized for blog_

Maya Newell and the documentary everyone is talking about: Gayby Baby

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Maya Newell’s documentary feature Gayby Baby follows four children with gay parents – Ebony, Gus, Graham and Matt, on their tricky path through adolescence against the backdrop of a growing marriage equality debate. We talk to Maya about this very personal project and why it was important to give those children caught up in the debate a voice of their own. 

After screening to sold out sessions at Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival, Gayby Baby opens in select cinemas tomorrow. We ask Maya few questions about the making of Gayby Baby and why this was an important story for her to tell.

Screen Australia: This project clearly has great personal significance for you, when did you get the idea?

Maya Newell: Charlotte Mars (the producer) and I sat down about four years ago in a café in Darlinghurst and decided to make a film to give a voice to kids growing up in same-sex parented families.

Over the last few years, debates over marriage equality have risen in volume and conservatives continually bring kids and families front and centre to their arguments. Many politicians repeat the argument that marriage is about having children and all children need both a mother and father. I hear them whisper, “What will happen if we allow gays to marry? What if they have kids? Would that be ok?”

Even though gay couples can’t marry, they have been having children for generations already. My mothers have been together for over 30 years and there are plenty of kids like me. From Argentina to Israel, from South Africa to New Zealand and from Iceland to America, hundreds of thousands of kids from queer families are growing up and spreading their wings. In fact, we are in the midst of a gayby boom.

SA: You first made Growing Up Gayby through the ABC / Screen Australia Opening Shot program. At what point did you envisage it becoming a feature length doco? How was the process of making the short different to making the feature?

MN: Charlotte and I actually began making Gayby Baby – the feature, prior to the Opening Shot series. The TV half-hour Growing Up Gayby approached the subject matter with a slightly more journalistic style with the inclusion of political columnist Janet Albrechtsen, Christian Democrat Fred Nile and also adult Gaybies who were old enough to be able to reflect on their childhood in a much more layered and evaluative way. In Growing Up Gayby, I was also coerced into being a subject in the film, which made me quite uncomfortable as I much prefer to be behind the lens! Victoria Midwinter Pitt, the Executive Producer of Growing Up Gayby, shared a wealth of advice when it came to interviewing subjects and narration in storytelling.

In comparison, our vision for making Gayby Baby was much less didactic as the observational style allowed for a nuance and subtext that is sometimes lost in the pace of television.

It was a real pleasure to be able to make these two companion films as it taught us the strength of both formats. In this day, it is a rare opportunity to be able to make two very different films on a similar theme, but the process really compounded the impact of both.

Making Growing Up Gayby allowed us to crystalize our messaging and really surround ourselves within the queer family space, which in the long run provided the background and research for Gayby Baby.

SA: Having watched the film, I was struck by how it is just as a much a general portrayal of how children see the world, as it is a specific portrayal of the children of gay parents. Were you surprised by how mature and insightful they were?

MN: I think in general our society does not look to the insight of children as a worthwhile point of view. Children are intelligent in ways that many adults are not. Children have wit, agency and a sense of morality that is hard for us all to return to. As Matt says in the film “Sometimes kids have better ideas than adults” and I think there is a lot of wisdom in that.

Matt, Ebony, Gus and Graham are constantly surprising me… and continue to do so.

SA: How did you select the families you followed?

MN: It was a long process where we went all around Australia and interviewed a myriad of kids. Part of this was casting, but it was also a process of research to discover what Gaybies today are experiencing and what themes the film should include.

All the children in the film were a) happy to be followed around for a few years (that casts aside most individuals); b) they have that indescribable thing, something like a sparkle in their eye or a charismatic grin; c) they are all on the cusp of change, there was some growing up that was in the midst of happening; and d) it felt like home being in theirs.

SA: Gayby Baby was so popular at Sydney Film Festival they added on an extra session – how did you feel when you found out?

MN: Before Sydney Film Festival we were still unsure if Australia was going to like the film, so to be offered a special extra screening due to popular demand…it was wonderful. We make films for people, so to see a positive uptake makes it all worthwhile.

SA: 2015 has been a great year for Australian films experimenting with different release strategies, how did you come up with the idea to screen Gayby Baby in high schools on Wear It Purple day?

MN: Charlotte and I were a part of Good Pitch2 Australia last October. For those who don’t know it is probably one of the most exciting recent Australian film industry initiatives. The event aims to marry social impact documentary to campaigns of change. We had the opportunity to pitch our education and outreach goals to a packed Sydney Opera House audience and dream big.

One area we were particularly excited about was promoting family diversity in the Australian education system. When I was at school we didn’t talk about different family structures – it was assumed that everyone had a mum and a dad. I believe that every child has the right to see their family structures reflected and celebrated in their education. There is a certain level of validation that occurs.

So after speaking so passionately at the Good Pitch2 Australia about our plans to use the film to promote the diversity of Australian families, Charlotte had an idea. She gets a cheeky glint in her eye when there lies simmering a completely outrageous idea. Charlotte’s brilliant mind is not limited by what has been done by most, and I am usually the one that keeps our collective feet on planet earth. So she spurts “why don’t we screen Gayby Baby in 500 school halls across the country… before we go to cinemas!”. I rolled my eyes thinking of the work involved in screening an unreleased film and convincing school principals nationally to set up their halls for an unknown little Australian documentary. With Wear It Purple Day approaching, a national day for supporting LGBTIQ youth, we saw the opportunity and decided to take the plunge. This scenario is quite representative of our entire filmmaking process that could be characterised by slightly outlandish and spontaneous measures, from crowd funding $100,000 to theatrically distributing a film independently as first time filmmakers. Why not go to schools before we hit cinemas. After all, this is a film about kids, for kids.

What has been wonderful in the release process, and has been enabled by the Good Pitch2 Australia, is that we have been able to intertwine social impact into every layer of our release. The idea that the voices of kids in same-sex families can shift the national dialogue around marriage equality, and also make a better inclusive world for kids growing up in our schools has given us the energy to carry on.

SA: And finally, what is next on the cards for you?

MN: Stories linger all around and the voices of the unheard are knocking down my doors.

Gayby Baby will be in cinemas from Thursday 2 September across Australia. Many of these screenings include special Q&A sessions. Find out where and when the film screens near you.